


Universal Laws

by Slytherin_Skittle



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Ben Hanscom Loves Beverly Marsh, Beverly Marsh Knows Everything, Beverly Marsh Loves Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh Stays in Derry, Beverly Marsh is a Good Friend, Bill Denbrough is a Good Friend, Bisexual Stanley Uris, Depressed Richie Tozier, Depression, Eddie Kaspbrak & Beverly Marsh Are Best Friends, Eddie Kaspbrak & Stanley Uris Live, Eddie Kaspbrak Dies, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, F/M, First Kiss, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, Grief/Mourning, I Love the Losers Club (IT), Kissing in the Rain, Librarian Mike Hanlon, M/M, Matchmaker Beverly Marsh, Mike Hanlon Deserves Love, Mike Hanlon Deserves Nice Things, Mike Hanlon is a Good Friend, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Oblivious Richie Tozier, Pansexual Mike Hanlon, Post-Pennywise (IT), Protective Eddie Kaspbrak, Protective Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier Being a Dumbass, Richie Tozier Being an Asshole, Richie Tozier Flirts, Richie Tozier Has Issues, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Needs a Hug, Richie Tozier Swears, Richie Tozier is Whipped, Richie Tozier is a Good Friend, Richie Tozier is a Little Shit, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Sassy Stanley Uris, Soulmates, Stanley Uris Commits Suicide, Stanley Uris Has OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Stanley Uris Lives, Stanley Uris Loves Birds, Stanley Uris Needs a Hug, Stanley Uris is So Done, Stanley Uris is a Good Friend, The Kissing Bridge (IT), They all deserved better so fuck canon, somebody also save mike, somebody save stan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-10-30 06:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20809757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherin_Skittle/pseuds/Slytherin_Skittle
Summary: It was one of the laws of the universe that Soulmates are never separated.After the death of two, the Lucky Seven became the Unlucky SIx and then the Ordinary Five.Now the universe brings two back after it broke one of its own laws.The Ordinary Five was once again the Lucky Seven.





	1. Stanley Uris

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: Suicide and graphic detail of it
> 
> To cope with my Reddie, It, Stanley and Eddie depression i decided to write this. It may be bad but i still want your thoughts and comments.

Stanley Uris died at the age of forty.

The man had died of suicide, he had cut his writs with a razor and watched his blood flow through it. He had bled out in his bathroom with no probable cause, baffling his wife and his caseworkers. 

Stanley Uris had gotten a call from an old friend of his, Mike Hanlon; he decided to ignore the way his heart had cried for joy at the very name. He had picked up the phone after having no such luck in finding a missing puzzle piece, a shame really as it was the last one. "Stanley Uris speaking," he said into his phone, itching at his wrists.

"Stan." A voice replied from the other end of the phone, a voice so familiar that Stan almost dropped his phone. "It's me, Mike from Derry."

"Mike? Is that really you? It's been so long." He replied, trying to ignore the way his hands had shook and the way fear had crept into his system. The way fear had disrupted the feeling of perfection, the feeling of content, the feeling of not having to look over his shoulder every day he went out for work. 

"Yeah, it's been twenty-seven years." 

Twenty-seven years. The amount of time rang a bell and the fear had instantly tripled, he wanted to throw his phone out the window and move to Russia. Surely whatever he was running from couldn't catch him there right?

"It's back." Memories had surged through his brain, almost as if there had been a lock on it. Memories of seven kids, a clown, a paper boat, a child in a raincoat, a painting, an old house, a well, and an old bully. 

"No." He whispered out, fear and dread consuming his entire body as he could no longer ignore his shaking hands. 

"I'm sorry, Stan. It's back and we promised that we would come back if it ever came back. So now all I'm asking you is to come back."

"Okay." He had shakily replied, hanging up the phone and putting it on his glass table near his unfinished puzzle. He rubbed his eyes and walked to his room, his glasses framing his terrified eyes. 

He opened his bedroom door, his eyes catching the bathroom door near his closet. He sat at his desk and brought out a stack of paper from his drawer, his hand reaching out towards the pens that he had in a cup on the desk.

Stanley Uris began to write letters, writing them as his hands still shook and his mind convinced him that the painting behind him would leap out and bite his face off. He had written ten in total, his mind had already been made up as he walked to the bathroom near his closet. 

He opened the door and looked at himself in the mirror. He was wearing black sweatpants and a red hoodie, his glasses had tried to hide his terrified eyes. His hair had gotten darker since childhood, and he had indeed gotten taller. 

_"You look just like now, except taller."_

He heard the echo of a memory and he remembered a girl with fiery short red hair, a girl who had helped them for a pack of smokes. The girl was part of The Losers Club, she was a loser and she was Beverly Marsh.

_"Welcome to the Losers Club, asshole!"_

Ah, he remembered the voice. Richie Tozier, the one who practically lived and thrived on annoying him to death, the one who he considered a brother, the one who had suffered the most in their lives. 

_"Nu hu, that's greywater." _

Eddie Kaspbrak filled his mind, the short boy who had been lied to about his health his entire life. The hypochondriac who had been with Stan after he had met Richie, the boy who had been the first one of their small group of four to even mutter a swear word. 

_"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed. That all the bad things that happen in this town are because of one thing... an evil thing" _

Mike Hanlon, a boy who was homeschooled that they had met after a rock war. The same boy who had grown up and called him on the phone, leading to this. 

_"Derry is not like any town I've been in before. People die or disappear six times the national average. And that's just grown-ups. Kids are worse. Way, way worse."_

Ben Hanscom's words filtered through his mind. He was a boy who would rather spend his days in the library than face the facts of life, face his fears and insecurities. He wondered if Ben was still in love, or if the spark had burned out.

_"I'll take all of you! I'll feast on your flesh as I feed on your fear... Or... you'll just leave us be... I will take him. Only him, and I will have my long rest and you will all live to grow and thrive and lead *happy* lives until old age takes you back to the weeds." _

The clown's voice haunted his mind once more, taking his life in an action to protect his family. That clown really was the death of him, he saw it in the Deadlights. He would die because of the clown and to protect his family.

He filled up the tun with water as one last voice entered his mind. 

_"Swear it, Swear if it isn't dead, If it ever comes back. We'll come back too."_

Bill Denbrough's voice entered his mind as he sat in the tub and held the razor tightly in his hand, Bill Denbrough was the boy who lost his brother in the Summer of '89.

"I swear, Bill." He whispered, more emotion and history behind the words than anyone could ever hope to understand. He slit his wrists as he said it, a promise made in blood and he was doing his part.

Stanley Uris died at age forty.

He didn't expect to open his eyes once more to feel oxygen enter his system once more. 

But he did.


	2. Eddie Kasbprak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Eddie and this hurt to write, but it also made me smile as he looked back on his happier memories. Eddie shouldn't of died and thats that.

Eddie Kaspbrak died at age forty.

A few days after the death of his childhood friend, Stanley Uris.

Eddie Kaspbrak had lived a full mostly unhappy life of forty, having been under abuse for most of his life. He was under his mother's abusive and controlling ways until he was eighteen when he left for college. Then he married a woman who was the worst attributes of his mother, she was abusive and controlling. It was worse than his mothers because he forgot the one person who had helped him get through the eighteen years of his mother. 

Now, he lay dying under a dark and infecting cave. 

He had been impaled by the claw of a clown, he was bleeding heavily and he had already accepted his upcoming death with a heavy heart. Richie Tozier, the only one he had loved was hovering over him, he had taken off his jacket and pressed it to Eddie's wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It was useless, even Eddie knew that. 

Eddie stared at Richie, regrets and sorrow his only emotions as he watched as Richie tried in vain to save him. It wasn't working, but Richie denied that fact as he held Eddie's hand. He could see, even now that this would break Richie Tozier. His death would break him to pieces and Eddie couldn't stop it or put him back together again, he wouldn't be able to do anything anymore in a few minutes. 

"Richie," He whispered in the dark cave, maybe he could still help him.

"No," He cried out, tightening his grip on Eddie's hand. "You can still survive this, you're stronger and braver than me; you can make it." Richie hugged him, cradling his head in a soft and gentle touch. It was already breaking him.

"Of course, Rich.." Eddie whispered back to him, his voice was weak and he can barely talk. But he mustered up the remaining strength to talk to him, maybe he was stronger than he thought. "How could my Trashmouth be wrong? But I'm correct, Rich. I won't make it."

"No." he cried out once more. "You can't. You haven't lived your life yet, this isn't fair to you."

"Richie, look at me." He whispered out as the other man did as he said and looked at him, "You know, I..I.." Eddie stopped as he thought about his life, pondering the good times and the bad times. He was so lost in thought that he didn't feel his heart stop beating. 

His last thoughts were about his life, about what he did in it and about his Trashmouth, Richie Tozier.

At the age of thirteen, he had encountered a walking disease.

At the age of thirteen, he realized he was under abuse. He realized that his mother manipulated him and made him think that he was unhealthy and that he could drop dead any day now. 

At the age of thirteen, he helped his friends defeat a killer clown. He had saved the remaining children of Derry, even if they wouldn't know it.

At the age of fourteen, he realized just how he was different in the town of Derry, Maine. He realized that he liked his own gender, a fact that made him feel dirty and unclean.

At the age of fourteen, he knew that he was in love with his best friend, Richie Tozier. He faced a clown only to be face to face with a life-changing fact, one that he almost couldn't handle.

At the age of fifteen, he carved something in the Derry's famous Kissing Bridge. He carved the letters and he didn't feel shame for doing it. He carved _K + T_ into the wood, carving the initials of their last names into the wood where it would lay for over twenty-seven years.

At the age of fifteen, he stopped taking his pills. He started to get off the habit but he knew that if he needed it, Richie always had a spare inhaler for him. If it was ever needed. 

At the age of sixteen, he told someone what he was feeling, he confessed his feelings of Richie Tozier to someone. Beverly Marsh had accepted him and welcomed him with open arms, never once feeling disgusted about him. Only love and acceptance. 

At the age of sixteen, he saw another carving on the bridge that he never went to. He saw the carving of _R + E, _he caught himself thinking about he wanted it to be about him and Richie. He felt disgusted in himself when he thought it, putting his hand up to avoid seeing it as he walked on by. 

At the age of seventeen, he finally accepted himself for what he truly was. He accepted himself as being gay, after all, if Beverly accepted him then why couldn't he? 

At the age of seventeen, he found himself with Richie in the night on top of his old car, Richie had begun to point out the constellations. He would stop and explain the prettiest ones and his favorites while Eddie couldn't stop comparing Richie to the stars and how he was Eddie's favorite.

At the age of eighteen, his mother kicked him out of the house. She found out her son was gay and she kicked him out, he walked the way to Richie's house while still crying the whole way. He climbed the house to Richie's window, where he was still awake. Richie had comforted him and let him stay the night, unknown that he would stay there until college.

At the age of eighteen, he left Derry, Maine with a promise to keep in touch when he gets situated in his college in New York. He never did though...

At the age of forty, he reunited with his family and the love of his life.

At the age of forty, he died.

He still could hear Richie's heartbroken sobs as he closed his eyes for the last time, or what he thought would be the last time. 


	3. They Woke Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't expect this work to do so well and get lots of love, thank you for all of your kind words, they mean a lot to me.

Stanley Uris and Eddie Kaspbrak were the only casualties from The Losers Club fighting Pennywise once more after the Clown's cycle of twenty-seven years, they were the only ones to die. 

No one expected them to wake up, but they did. 

In an abandoned clubhouse lay two men, both of them having died in the past few days. The clubhouse was exactly the same as the old friend group had left it, their belongings and memories have seeped into the very molecules belonging to the wood. An old hammock had laid with memories of <strike>flirting</strike> fighting and pining, an old bucket lay with shower caps, posters adjourned the wooden walls, and abandoned homework assignments lay on the dusty floorboards. 

One of the men had started to wake, he had dark wavy hair and glasses and was wearing a crimson red hoodie and black sweatpants. The most interesting thing about the man, however, was the deep scars along his wrists reflecting how he had died just a few days ago. The man's name was Stanley Uris, he was an old resident of the very clubhouse he was laying in. He was also supposed to be dead.

Stan groaned as he started to move, feeling oxygen enter into previously dead lungs and his heart beating and pumping blood that he had thought he had spilled just a few days ago. He opened his eyes as they widened in shock at seeing the old childhood clubhouse, his breath came out in short gasps as his body started to get used to the oxygen. Stan lay on the wooden floorboards as he stared at the opening of the clubhouse where a deep forest lay in wait. "Is this the afterlife?" He whispered out in the quiet abandoned childhood memory, seeing no other option as he felt the wood and nails press into his back. 

A groan had sounded to his right, one that sounded eerily familiar. Stan shot up and looked around him, his eyes darting around for the maker of the sound. There, on the ground lay Eddie Kaspbrak, an old childhood friend and a member of The Losers Club. Eddie was wearing a red jacket, a pale green button-up and a pair of blue jeans, his clothes were stained with dirt, grime, and blood. There was a hole in his clothing, exposing part of his stomach. The blood had seemed to come from that very same hole, leading Stan to bilive the worst and that they were both, very much dead. 

"Eddie?" He whispered out, fear and dread grappling his very core. "Please don't tell me it, please don't say you're dead and that I failed." 

Eddie looked curiously at him, "What do you mean? What could you of failed?" 

Stan's vision became to blur, even with his glasses on and it took a minute to realize that he was crying. He was silent as his mind attacked him, silent as Eddie crawled over and offered a hug, silent as he accepted and felt Eddie's comforting hand rub up and down on his back. "I failed." He shakily said into the silent clubhouse, "I failed." He repeated as his mind brought forth his memories of his death. 

"You didn't fail, Stan." Eddie said as he comforted the taller man, confusion in his voice. 

"But I did!" He shouted out, breaking the hug from his friend. "I saw in the Deadlights that everyone would die if I was there! I thought that if I wasn't there, to begin with, everyone would be safe. But if you're here, then I failed."

"Nothing is carved in stone. The future is always changing, and besides, I don't think we're dead."

"What do you mean?"

Eddie sat next to him, "I mean maybe we did die and something intervened. I heard a voice after I died, and if my theory is correct then the voice just adds more to it." He paused and looked at his friend to see if there was a hint of judgment and only saw curiosity. "I heard someone say _You're not supposed to die, not just yet. It wasn't in my laws." _He quoted as he looked back on his memories. "I have no idea what that even means, but that means that surely something brought us back, right?"

"Yeah, maybe we have a second chance."

"At what?"

Stan smiled, the first smile he had since he died. "At life." Was his simple answer, even though it held more meaning than any outsider could hope to interpret. The meaning spread over decades. 

"Then let's get it," Eddie said as he stood up, brushing his dirty hands on his dirty clothes, a fact which he hated judging by the grimace on his face. He held his hand to his friend and Stan took it. Eddie lifted him up and they looked to the opening of the clubhouse, light streaming in from the gaps of wood. 

"Let's find them too, no doubt they are across the country," Stan said. Eddie, nodded as he pushed the door open and gestured for Stan to go first. Stan scoffed but climbed up the ladder nonetheless. Eddie followed suit and closed the clubhouse door and breathing in the fresh air, a chapter closing in their lives with the door closing for the final time. 

They started to walk in the forest, leaving the trauma behind and heading for their second chance in life.


	4. The Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been sad today and I don't even know why, all my bad and horrible thoughts just plague my mind.

Stanley Uris and Eddie Kaskprak walked past the clubhouse, walking the trail out of the forest they knew too well. Both had been through hell and back, killer clowns tend to do that to you. For now, it was silent as they passed a tree with a particular carving that Eddie was familiar with. 

_Fuck you, Derry._

Eddie stopped and stood in front of the carving, his mind now full of chaos. It was a carving that he did before he left for college, the last goodbye to the town he hated. He had found enough time to carve it, surprisingly. He had been living with the Toziers for about a few months ever since his mother kicked him out for being gay. The Tozier family never asked why he was kicked out, never cared as they fed him and cared for him; something he never had when living with his mother. Speaking of his mother, she never contacted him or the Tozier family to rat him out, it seemed that on that loud and bloody night, she cut all contact with him. A fact that hurt and pleased him, he was able to go anywhere he wanted, something Richie was happy about. But he was a little hrt as it showed his mother never truly cared about him in the first place, through all her pestering. 

It was a late October night as he crept away from the house to the clubhouse, almost making it before he tripped on a fallen branch. He had screamed out a "Fuck you, Derry!" before he stopped and looked up at the tree and grinned. He had borrowed Richie's pocket knife and dug it out of his shorts, carving the words he screamed. When he was done, he stepped away, grinning. His last _fuck you_ to the cursed town he so hated, and loved a little bit. 

"Eddie?" A voice asked, seeming from far away but was only right next to him. He hummed as he traced the old carving with his fingers that were covered in blood. "Eddie?" The voice asked him again, this time managing to bring him out of his old memories he was just now remembering. 

"Yeah?" He asked as he looked back at Stan, who stared at him with understanding and questions, but not about the carving. Questions about how _they _were. Questions about the Losers Club, the only friends he ever had. "Ask away, Stan." He said as they continued walking on the path, Stan smiled as he put his hands in his crimson hoodie, ignoring the deep itch at his wrists. 

"What changed in their lives?" He asked as his curiosity and earning seeped through his very tone of voice, not to mention his unsaid words. _What changed in their lives without us?_

"Bill's a famous horror writer, try to guess where he got the inspiration from." They both laughed before Stan urged Eddie to continue, which he did. "His endings suck, probably because he couldn't finish the story that haunted his life. Anyways, he got married, from last I heard one of his books is being made into a horror movie."

"I read one of his books, the story and plot were great. But the ending? Not so much." Stan added, a little _ehhh _noise at the ending when he mentioned one of Bill's endings. Eddie laughed as a bluebird flew out of its nest.

"Bev is a fashion designer, and very rich." Eddie started, his mind flashing to bruises on her arm, hinting at what happens. "She got married too, but that's probably going to end, for good reason too."

Stan hummed, a twig breaking under his steps. "Ben is an architect, creating houses for his company. We both knew what he would be, look at the clubhouse. He didn't get married, lucky idiot." He started before remembering the most important detail, his mind not believing he forgot it. "Oh! You will not believe what happened to him, though." He said while he hit on Stan's arms and elbow, he looked vaguely annoyed but intrigued. "He got hot! Like he did though, lost a lot of weight and oh my god everyone was thirsting over him at the dinner. Beverly's a lucky woman if she catches him."

Stan smirked as his thoughts now on what Ben could look like now that it was twenty-seven years after the incident. "Richie became a comedian, which is impossible because that requires people to actually find him funny to begin with." Stan rolled his eyes as he had to listen to this bullshit once more, he should've just walked away. "He never married, like Ben, and is therefore lucky." 

"What about you? What did you do in your life?" Stan asked as he watched the emotions crossing his friend's face, seeing each bit of pain.

"Nothing." He responded, a smile upon his face even though regret and sorrow joined the smile. "I became a risk analyst even though I studied medicine and could become a doctor, even now. I practically married the carbon copy of my mother, she controls and manipulates me into thinking I needed the pills and inhaler. I didn't but I forgot I didn't need it, I wasted my life away. And I would've died knowing it." 

"That's not true. You have now, you can still live it." Stan commented, a comforting touch on his friend's shoulder. A smile upon Eddie's face had them both smiling at each other, friendship back together. 

"What about Mike? You never said anything about him." Stan said, both changing the subject for Eddie and because he longed to know how Mike was doing.

A taunting smile filtered across Eddie's face, Stan glared at him, daring him to say anything. "He stayed in Derry, as you know being the only one so he could call us back if needed. He must've been lonely thinking about it, his life didn't sound great. He became the librarian, literally living in the library, he never married as his only focus was about us and It." Eddie said as Stan tried to ignore the way his heart jumped alive when Mike's life was told, both of sorrow and longing.

"Odd." He commented, ignoring his heart as Eddie turned to him, curious. "We're all successful in life, but we all got secrets and pain behind the curtains. Richie, Ben, and Mike had to of been lonely without anyone. You and Beverly were suffering from abuse, stuck in a cycle from both of your pasts and parents. Me and Bill are haunted by our own minds, he never gets to write an ending he and the public are happy about and my mind screams about perfection, I even married someone because of my mind's need to have everything be perfect."

Eddie hummed, his mind grabbing hold of the observations his friend had put forth. "Yeah, odd. What about you? What happened in your life?" Eddie asked as his change of the subject was obvious to even the twig he broke under his step. 

"I became an accountant, a perfect and borning job. As I said earlier, I married someone in my mind's need for perfection. We both don't love each other like husband and wife, instead, we married because society forced its own ideas of perfection on us. Like I said, pain behind the curtains."

They came to a stop as they saw the building they were headed to, the building where the Losers Club stayed during their stay. The building that was abandoned by them judging by the missing rental cars. _(One never left.)_ Their conversation halted as Stan opened the front door, the only time he would. "Lead the way." Stan joked as Eddie walked up the stairs, counting the doors to his under his breath. 

He found his door but he had stopped in front of it, causing Stan to run into him by extension. Eddie's door was open and all his stuff, _(Two suitcases) _were all gone without a trace that he could see. He stepped in the room, cautiously, waiting for traps or _something _lying in wait. The only thing out of place that wasn't there before he had checked in to the room a few nights before was a half-written letter on his nightstand. He walked to the bed with dread, his mind somewhere else as he sat on the bed and grabbed the letter with shaking hands. 

_Hey Eds,_

_Let me guess, you are about to tell me to not call you that, am I right? The reason why I'm writing this is because of something my therapist said to me once, and so here I am. _

_You hate me right? I let you rot in the place you hate the most, a dirty and infected cave, not to mention the clown with you. I'm sorry, I tried to drag you out of there but they dragged me before I could. I'm really fucking sorry, Eds. For everything, I'm sorry for being a worthless piece of shit. I'm sorry for convincing you to go down in that dirty cave, I'm sorry for being an idiot and getting caught in the Deadlights, I'm sorry for seeing your death and not preventing it. I'm sorry for taking your things, I'm sorry for being a coward. (You were the bravest one between us, let me be honest.) I'm just sorry, Eddie._

_I won't be able to move on from this, so I'll remember you and try to be brave,_

_Maybe if I wa_

The letter had ended there, at a half-finished thought that wouldn't be completed until Eddie sees Richie again once more. There were teardrops on the letter as Eddie finished, his heart had wanted him to of finished and was glad that he hadn't, he didn't think he could've of handled the finished letter. 

His mind was now latched onto Richie's pain and the last time they were together before he took his last breath. Memories flashed through his eyes, clear as if they had just happened and wasn't just a few days ago. He could feel and see the claw going through his stomach, could feel and see Richie's tears on his face and his almost dead body. He could hear Richie's heartbroken sobs, could hear his pleas, could hear the battle. 

He died and caused Richie and everyone else pain and he had no one to blame but himself. He went to Richie, and for that, he died. 

He looked up and saw Stan leaning on the doorway, his eyes away from his friend, giving him privacy. Eddie gathered his strength to not cry and said a few words, determination coursing through his blood. "Richie took my stuff, let's find them and bring them back." He said as he got up and headed for the door, Richie's letter in his hand, folded. 

"Let's find Richie first, let's bring everyone back together again," Stan promised, uncrossing his arms as he and Eddie walked out of the building and to Eddie's rental car. 

A new promise and oath was made, and it just might've been made in blood considering how much they split of their own for their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yeah I'm a lesbian but I know when someone is hot and that is Ben Hanscom. (And Beverly Marsh, oh my god I love my wife, I'll share Ben, okay?)


	5. Richie Tozier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find Richie and hearts break and bleed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hurt to write.

There was a noticeable difference in Richie Tozier from before the incident, he was never the same after the death of his best friend, and only love of his life. He became the shell of the man he once was, he was drowning in grief, self-hatred, and anger. Whether it was anger at the world or himself, no one could tell, not that they could even see the difference. 

A normal day after the incident for Richie Tozier started and ended in trying to drown himself in liquor, a subconscious attempt of suicide if one would look deeper if they ever looked at all. His apartment was silent, the only sound that would be present would be his drunken sobs and the sound of Eddie's voicemail, whose phone was buried under Derry, Maine, practically nowhere in the middle of the country. He spent his days laying in his messed up bed, only leaving for his bathroom and to grab a bottle of liquor, never for food or anything else. He would only see Eddie Kaspbrak in his dreams, on his nightstand, or on his phone. Richie Tozier would never see Eddie Kaspbrak alive again, he would only see him in his dreams or when he eventually died from alcohol poisoning. 

It had now been a week since the incident, the day when Eddie Kaspbrak was murdered by a billion-year-old space clown, killing both the man and any spark inside the broken man. He now lay on his messy bed, staring out his open window into the night sky littered with stars that he and Eddie had once admired about twenty-years ago, now only he lay to admire it. His eyes caught a particular constellation and his sides felt colder than ever, missing the warmth that had radiated from the body that had usually lay right next to him. 

_"You see that one, Eds?" A Young Richie Tozier asked as he pointed to a particular constellation that only his eyes could spot, he was laid on his car roof as he held Eddie Kaspbrak's hand, urging him to just _look_. Eddie turned his attention to the night sky instead of the boy sitting next to him, he couldn't see which one Richie held eyes for seeing as how several constellations lay where his hand was pointed at. _

_"Which one?" He asked as he looked back at the boy next to him, Eddie's eyebrows were furrowed as he attempted to look back at the night sky before a gentle finger had stopped his eyes from reaching their destination. _

_"Look where I direct," Richie said as he tilted his head to the side and to the right and up again before staying there, there was a constellation that lay alone, one that Richie was looking at. "That one's Leo, it's one of my favorite constellations. And that one right there, the brightest star, that one is Regulus. I think it might just be my all-time favorite constellation, how about you?" Richie had ranted about his constellations while Eddie gazed at both, he gazed at the constellation while he gazed about the constellations reflecting in Richie's glasses and his eyes. Eddie turned his head fully to look at his best friend, both of their emotions had been spread out and open during the night and Eddie hoped that his longing and happiness were buried deep in his eyes, never to be seen. _

_"I think Leo is becoming one of my favorites, Rich," Eddie whispered as Richie sent him a smile that was more blinding than the stars twinkling way above them, in the night sky and billions of miles away. _

_Richie looked back at the constellation as he griped Eddie's hand a bit tighter before relaxing, he was content with today. Eddie was happy, and so he was happy._

He hadn't known he was crying until he was brought out of the flashback by a car engine roaring to a stop outside of his apartment complex, he looked to his nightstand where a picture of Eddie Kaspbrak was, one that he held onto since college. 

His door opened quietly and he stiffened as he heard quiet footsteps and even quieter whispers, someone was in his house and he didn't know who or why. His emotions had immediately went to relief, as thoughts of what could happen if they held a gun with them. His eyes were still on the picture of Eddie and he closed his eyes, sighing he opened them. "'M sorry, Eds." He whispered into the dark and quiet of the night, the Leo constellation watching over him as he closed his eyes for what he thought would be the last time. "In here oh mysterious robbers, just end me already you filthy cowards!" He shouted out as his voice cracked from his lack of use, not using it since the incident. He heard the footsteps stop before they started up again as they headed towards his bedroom, intent with purpose. Richie hoped it was a purpose to kill, as it would be murder and not suicide. Surely Eddie couldn't blame him for this, could he? 

The bedroom door opened and Richie couldn't finish his thought as they all left his mind, now he lay on his bed waiting to feel the cold metal of the gun upon his head, waiting to feel the bullet enter his head and reunite him with his two best friends. Instead, he never felt the ice-cold metal, he only felt warm fingers drifting across his head, drawing circled in his hair. He opened his eyes and his breath was taken away, because none other than Eddie Kaspbrak stood beside his nightstand, his brown eyes filled with love and sorrow. His eyes filled with tears as Eddie opened his mouth, his fingers still lay on Richie's shoulder. "Hey." He whispered out in the otherwise silent night, his voice had seemed so genuine that Richie almost believed that this was Eddie, _his Eddie. _

But it wasn't, and it'll never be. 

"Nice fucking try, you piece of shit." Richie spit out as he watched the person's face eyes widen in surprise and hurt. "One trick pony, just kill me, you filthy clown." He finished as he closed his eyes, missing the other figure in the room at the foot of his bed, missing Eddie's eyes contort in pain and understanding. 

"Rich," Eddie whispered in the room as he tried his best to convince his best friend that it was really him. "It's really me, Chee." A tear rolled down Richie's cheek as the name was whispered into the night, memories and emotions bursting through Richie's already broken walls, reducing them to dust. 

"You're dead." He said as he opened his eyes to see Eddie leaning over him, concern and hurt through his eyes. "My Eddie died in my arms, he's dead. All you are is a clown, a filthy clown, kill me, you sloppy bitch." He stated with all his confidence he could muster before closing his eyes, waiting to accept his death, just as his Eddie had when he died. His actions were a mirror of Eddie Kaspbrak, trying to be as brave as he was in the face of Death's Door.

Richie's words were a sharp and hateful thing, whispered out in the night to protect himself as he sent venom and hatred everyone's way to protect himself from being hurt once more. Still, Eddie had almost crumbled at the weight of the words as he thought about how to help his best friend. 

"Chee,"

"No, you're dead."

"He's telling the truth, Trashmouth." A new voice had stated and Richie opened his eyes to see Stanley Uris at the foot of his bed, itching his wrists through a crimson hoodie. "We need you, buddy."

"No," Was the whispered and broken reply as his eyes drifted back to his two best friends, trying to grasp hold of the truth. 

"Richie, it's really us," Eddie said as he tried in vain to convince his best friend of the truth that was staring at him twice over. 

"It can't." Richie let out a cry as he started to silently sob, letting his tears fall as he stared at his two former best friends. He still refused to accept the truth that was right in front of him, he stood up so he was now sitting on his bed and looked at Stanley Uris. "It just can't."

"Then help us make you understand," Stan said as he crossed his arms and stopped itching his wrists and stared at Richie with determination burning through his eyes and in his blood, blood that he had previously spilled. 

Richie hummed and looked closely at Stan and Eddie, who shifted nervously under his gaze. "Stan." Stan's head turned just a fraction, letting him know that he heard him loud and clear. "What happened on Homecoming of 1993 outside of the school gym?" He bit his bottom lip as he said it as his face held dread and hope. 

_Don't do this to me, don't give me hope._

Eddie looked at Stan, practically praying that he would remember whatever specific event that Richie had named. "Easy." Stan scoffed as he looked at Richie with fire in his eyes, "You graffitied the gym wall, you had wanted to say a _fuck you _before you went back to pretending. You also told me your secret, one you've kept for twenty-seven years."

Richie's eyes had overflowed with tears as the meaning of the words had fully hit him, he looked back to both of the men standing near his bed. "Stanley? Eddie?" He whispered as he looked at each man, in particular, he received a nod in return from each and he finally believed the truth. 

He turned to Eddie and tackled him into a hug as they both lost balance and fell to the floor, neither of them eating something on their way down, thankfully. Eddie returned the embrace as he let his head fall on the gray carpet, wrapping his arms around Richie's neck as Richie's arms were around his waist. "It's really you?" He whispered into Eddie's neck as the once dead man felt the hot breath ghost over his neck, he still nodded. Richie let a few minutes go by before he got up and cupped Eddie's cheek, the same cheek that was now a scar fro where Henry Bowers had stabbed him. Richie went down and hugged him even tighter, afraid that if he let him go for a second, he would turn to ashes and fade away. 

A moment passed before Richie got up, sitting on his best friend's lap and stood up and offered a hand to help him up off of the ground. Eddie took it and they looked at each other before Stan broke the moment by laughing at them, Richie looked at him at embraced him into a hug, one that wasn't filled with as much as emotion as Eddie's but still held meaning. Eddie joined in on the hug as they laughed and cried, three Losers were back together again once more. 

They broke the hug and Richie was left staring at them, questions on his mind. "How?" Though his tone was happy, they could still sense the undertone.

"We don't know, that's why we're here," Stan said as he itched his wrists once more and Eddie tried to ignore the burning itch on his stomach. "We're reuniting the Losers Club once more, something brought us back. And we're going to need help figuring out what did." 

Richie absorbed the statement before he nodded and grabbed a bag, packing a few days and nights of clothes and necessities before turning back to them. "Let's go, Losers!" He exclaimed as he walked over to his bedroom door, stopping as he turned towards them and they got the message and walked towards him. 

Their next stop was towards Ben Hanscom and Beverly Marsh.


	6. The Car Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The car ride to Beverly Marsh and Ben Hanscom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all,,, I just love the Losers Club + Georgie Denbrough with all of my heart.

Richie Tozier lived in a normal apartment in LA of California despite all of the supernatural occurrences in his lifetime, he was a Comedian who had never even written any of his own material. He couldn't yet remember his inspiration, he only remembered it when he got a call twenty-seven years after he made the best friends of his life. He remembered his inspiration, Eddie Kaspbrak. 

Eddie Kaspbrak was supposed to be dead at the age of forty, and now here he stands in Richie's apartment, living and breathing and staring at Richie with something he couldn't quite pinpoint. Richie had just shrugged it off as he packed and now he walked down the steps with two of only best friends as he saw his red car come into view, the car that would take him to Beverly Marsh and Ben Hanscom. 

He opened the trunk and threw his bag in, it wasn't much but it would have to do for now. He unlocked the car doors as he sat down on the driver's side as Eddie called shotgun and sat in the passenger seat while Stan was left to the back of the car, looking at the surprisingly clean floors. "Alright, losers, we're going to Bev and Ben's place, got it?" He said as he put the keys in the ignition as his normal tactic of deflecting with humor came into his voice and showed in his eyes. "No complaints? Kay, suck it up, buttercup."

He backed out of the parking space that he hadn't used in a week and drove out into the roads as he hummed along to a song only present in his mind, it helped keep his brain off of the subject that it couldn't make sense of. Eddie and Stan knew this, which was why they chose not to comment on his humming, letting him have it as they sat peacefully in the otherwise quiet car ride. 

As he glanced above to the night sky, he saw the Leo constellation, watching over them from afar. Leo had been watching over her best admirers their entire lives, she had seen everything and now she watched them together and she hoped that the universe wasn't against them this time. The constellation watched on quietly as the three members of the Losers Club watched the night sky, and by extension, her.

Stan shifted in his seat as he turned his head from the night sky and towards his best friend, Richie Tozier. "So, what did I miss in your life, Trashmouth?" He asked even if he knew damn well what he had missed from his conversation with Eddie Kasbprak when they had first woke up. But Richie didn't know that, and he wanted to hear the truth from his friend's own mouth. 

Eddie glared at him from the corner of one of the mirrors as Stan winked and put one of his fingers over his mouth, shushing him as Eddie sighed and they both waited for Richie to answer. "You want the version that my manager always bitches me about to tell or the real, honest, and American truth?" 

Stan raised his eyebrow in response as he looked carefully at his friend, trying to see a sign of something. He sighed, finding none. "The truth."

Richie had only gave a sigh in response as he saw the Leo constellation once more out of the corner of his eyes, he focused his eyes on the road as he found the strength to answer the most basic and simplest answer without giving away too much of what he had endured. "I graduated college here and I lived in an apartment for a few years after as I didn't quite know what I wanted to do. I became a radio host for a few years and then a comedian who can't even tell their own jokes and has to repeat a script his managers drill into his head." He saw Stan shift in the back seat and chuckled, "What boring job did you get?"

"Accountant, you dumb bitch."

Richie snorted as he took one hand from the wheel and set it on the back of Eddie's seat as the Leo constellation watched from above. "Of course you did."

"Are you okay, Rich?" Eddie had seemingly asked from nowhere even though he had been asking and debating it with himself for over a few minutes before he sucked it up and asked. He had never seen Richie stiffen so quickly before, nor had he seen the panic in his eyes except during nights where they would lay under the stars and their true feelings would come out to play. All except their true feelings for each other, that is.

"Come on, Eddie," Stan said from the back of the car a he looked closely at both of his friends. "When have we ever been okay?" He asked as he saw the condensation roll down on the car window, a product of having receiving rainfall from last night. "We have never been okay," Stan whispered as the itching feeling spread on his wrists once more, reminding him that while he was breathing, he was technically dead. "None of us, none of the Losers has ever been okay. Richie's never been okay, he's probably the most broken of us all. Probably, who knows? But we've never been okay, not in childhood and certainly not in adulthood."

A heavy silence had now filled the empty space of the car as both of them digested the depressing thoughts of Stanley Uris. Finally, Richie sighed as he looked at Stan from one of the mirrors. "Why'd you always have to be right, Stanley?" Richie asked as his fingers drummed against the back of Eddie's seat, a small noise in the otherwise silent car. 

"It's in the job description, dumbass."

"So, another boring job?" Richie asked as his deflection using humor had taken over and he brought the conversation to a new topic, avoiding the other one. "Why did both of you have to have boring jobs? Like come on, Eddie Spaghetti, I'd thought you'd do better than Risk Analyst."

"Fuck you,"

"Later. Now listen you little shit, why didn't you become a doctor?" Eddie glared at him as he thanked the stars above for allowing the car to be as dark as the night sky, making it almost impossible to see the blush dancing across his cheeks. "Wasn't that your dream in Junior Year?"

"I studied medicine in college, I can become a doctor for your information, dipshit."

"Then why didn't you, Spaghetti?" 

Stan rolled his eyes as he looked back at the window, staring at the raindrops and the stars above. "Did you ever listen as a child? Don't fucking call me that." H said even though h knew full well that he actually liked them, loved them even. 

_"Aren't I a hypocrite?"_

"Sorry, can't. That extends the warranty, therefore I can call you that my Eddie Spagehitti Head." Richie said as he winked when he caught Eddie's glare.

"Must you?"

"Yes, Eddie my love. I must."

"Here is the only reason that I'm thankful that I left this for a few decades." Stan groaned as he kept his eyes on the night sky in an attempt to block out the <strike>flirting</strike> bickering out of his head. 

"Oh, come on, Stanley, you love me."

"You wish."

"Do I? Do I really?" Richie asked as he looked towards Eddie with a grin upon his face. "Eddie? Is that what I wish?"

"Hell If I know what goes on in your head, that requires a level of expertise that I haven't reached yet." He said even though hhis own mind reminded him of the days that it felt like he could, in fact, read his best friend's mind, could predict what Richie would say or do, and almost see behind his fortress of walls that he hid behind.

"Sure, Eddie, sure," Richie responded as he turned a corner and drove into what could be considered a forest as they drove a trail, the other two turned towards Richie with a question on their minds.

"Where are we?"

Richie grinned, "This is where Benjamin lives."They all say a house above and it looked more like a mansion if they were being truly honest with themselves, Richie grinned as he parked next to Ben's car and took his keys out of the ignition. "We're here, folks."


	7. Ben Hanscom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben Hanscom sees them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a failure. I haven't updated in so long even tho I wanted to. Do y'all hate me? I'm sorry that I haven't gotten around to updating this, I'm sorry, I have failed you. ANyways, this took like five or four hours, enjoy.

A three-story building lay in the middle of the forest with only a few lights on, a motorcycle and a gray car were parked outside the house as they differ from the red car parked outside the house as well. It was different from the others because of the people inside it as none of the others held any people inside them. This specific car held world-renowned comedian, Richie Tozier, a risk analyst, Eddie Kaspbrak, and an account named Stanley Uris. 

What was special and different about these people? 

They had fought a shapeshifter at the age of thirteen.

And two of them were technically dead.

At the moment, these three people with a shared past were attempting to come up with a plan to break the news to Ben Hanscom, that yes, indeed, they are alive and _yes_ it truly is them. In the back lay Stanley Uris, who was half-listening while they bicker about the plan they were attempting to make, rolling his eyes the entire conversation.

"Eds." Richie paused as he stared at Eddie who had shamelessly brought up his idea of a good plan. "Eddie, Spaghetti, Eds, are you really suggesting that we waltz up in there and make ourselves at home and expect him to not freak out?" Richie brought out his phone while Eddie glared at him, trying not to murder him. "Imagine how Haystack will react!"

"How about... you come up with a plan. Because I haven't heard a single idea from you this entire conversation." Eddie defended as he desperately tried to keep his face neutral as the burning itch on his stomach burned up again, causing pain across it. It felt like he _must _itch like he was suffering through an extreme withdrawal like he would die again if he didn't itch the very same spot he died because of.

"I will!" Richie shouted back as he opened his phone and searched through his contacts, glaring up at Eddie through it all even though his eyes betrayed him and showed the happiness within. "And it will be better than whatever you came up with!"

"This is an absolute disaster," Stan muttered from the back of the car where he remained unheard as his mind drifted to one of the members of the Losers Club, Mike Hanlon.

"Here's my _great_ plan," Richie said as he pressed the call button for Ben Hanscom, the car being filled with silence as the rings were the only thing heard. "Ben? You awake?"

"Richie? Is that you?" Ben's voice came through from the speaker when he answered the call, the call that had shock fill his entire being once he saw the caller, when he saw the caller ID and the picture of Richie shooting finger guns fill up his screen. "Have you took Beverly up on her offer? Because you just missed her, she just left." Ben had sounded awake and happy even, it made Richie quietly wince as the other people in the car shot him confused glances.

"Maybe. I'm sorry man, you were probably sleeping and here I am calling you at god knows what hour." Richie said as he tried desperately to ignore the glances his guests have been shooting him.

"You're fine. Besides, I'm happy, you're talking to us again and you didn't wake anyone up. I've been working on a project and Beverly left for the store a few minutes ago, now what's your reason? I'm here for you." 

Richie sighed as he rubbed his forehead as he looked around the car windows as if he was seeing the forrest around it for the first time, even when it wasn't. "It's a _very _complicated story and I'm an absolute mess. Could you let me in? I'm outside your house."

"Wait, I'm sorry, what?" There was shuffling on Ben's end after his statement and they could all see a figure from Ben's bedroom, which was the only one with a light shone through the curtains. Curtains had moved and Ben Hanscom stood with his hand holding his phone to his ear standing in his room and staring at them directly, even if he could only see a car and not the two lost members of the Losers Club inside of it. "Oh my god, you're really outside of my house. What happened man?"

Richie laughed, it was short and devoid of the humor that would usually trace it. "As I said, it's a long story, Benjamin." Richie sighed as he looked back up at Ben's unmoving figure as he continued to stare at the red car of his friend. "Can I come in? I promise to explain once inside, I'm just cold and exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah sure, Rich. Of course, you can come in, we said that our home is open to you before you left." Ben said softly before the curtain moved and he disappeared from sight. "Let me close some things up and I can unlock the door."

"Okay," Richie said as his mind reminded him of the offer Ben and Beverly had made to him before he left for California once more, looking back on it, he regrets not taking them up on it. 

"See you soon, pal," Ben said as he hung up the call and headed back to his laptop and desk littered with papers for a new project as his ideas can take control in the night. Ben hummed as Richie and his two former dead friends exited out of the car and headed to Ben's front porch, which held a hammock which had Richie and Eddie smiling as they waited for their old friend unlock it and freak out and most likely slam it in their faces, even though they knew he would never do that.

Footsteps sounded through the house as they got closer and closer to the door before locks being turned followed them as Richie prepared for Ben's response and actions. The door swung open to reveal Ben Hanscom in a blue shirt and gray sweatpants looking upon Richie in happiness before his eyes were filled with horror when he saw who or what was behind his old friend. 

Ben had stayed still for what felt like minutes before his hand twitched and he held the fire poker he kept around the door in his hand, he tightened his grip on it as he calculated his next move. After staring for a moment, he grabbed Richie's wrist and dragged him inside the house and behind him while he brandished the firepoker at the two former friends in front of him, the end of the fire poker barley resting on Eddie's beating heart. The air around them all grew tense as Richie looked at Eddie who had taken a step back only for Ben, and therefore the fire poker, to take another step forward. 

"Ben!" Richie cried out as he gripped Ben's shoulder, trying to make him turn around and _look_ at him. Ben had only held him back and away from what he thought was the Clown he had spent most of his life being terrified of. "Ben! Listen to me! It's really them! I promise!" His desperate voice had Ben shaking his head as he kept his arm straight and steady as he looked upon Eddie with anger. 

"The Clown can change shapes, we know this, Richie. This _thing_ right here is the Clown, not Eddie. He's gone and this is just a mockery of him, and we shouldn't let it live, in honor of what Eddie died trying to kill."

A tear had left Ben's right eye as Richie moved in front of him, blocking his view of them and placing the poker on his own heart. "It's really them, I promise you this. It's really them, now please put the poker down, Haystack." Richie begged as he saw Ben's resolve slowly crumble even though he still held the poker as his arm shook.

"How can you know? The Clown can change shapes, Richie."

"The Clown can't know memories!" Richie countered back as he almost screamed to Ben as he almost lost control, and judging by Ben's face, he knew it too. He always wanted to protect Eddie, a part of him always yearns to protect the ones he loves, he needs to protect Eddie, even if he knows better than anyone else that Eddie can protect himself, even at thirteen. "It can change shape, yes, but It can't have the memories of the shape It inhabits." Ben was now showing signs of giving up as he so desperately _wanted_ to believe that Richie was telling him that truth, that they can be a fully functioning dysfunctional family again. 

Ben sighed as he let his arm fall, holding the fire poker by his side as he looked Richie in the eyes, he was a brother in everything but blood. "I trust you, Richie." He said as he stepped aside and opened the door fully, allowing them access to his house as they walked quickly inside to avoid being hit over the head or stabbed. After all, trust decades of trauma and experiences to make it seem as if you don't know your friends anymore, to second guess them.

They had quickly walked into the living room as they explored the rest of the house with their eyes, besides Richie who has been here before. Ben had sat in a chair beside the fire with the poker on his lap while he faced Richie, Eddie, and Stan on the couch. "You said you'd explain, explain." He said as Stan's eyes drifted from Ben Hanscom and his Mighty Fire Poker to the flames from within the fireplace as it seemed like they called out to him.

"You remember that old clubhouse you built after IT happened?" Eddie asked him as Stan had still continued to look at the fire, seemingly entranced by it. Ben nodded and Eddie continued. "We woke up there, almost exactly how we died except our causes of death have turned into scars, even though it happened very recently... I heard a voice before I died, It didn't sound like anyone I've ever heard. It sounded odd like someone _meant_ to bring us back."

Intrigued, Ben lent forward. "What did the voice say exactly?" He said as he looked straight into Eddie Kaspbrak's eyes, a trick he had learned as he grew up with him. For looking straight into his eyes had caused him to confess whatever he was hiding and to immediately trip over his words if he was attempting to lie.

"It said _You're not supposed to die, not just yet. It wasn't in my laws. _Whatever that means."

Ben's eyes have drifted over to Stan where he had finally snapped out of whatever trance he was in and he shook his head as he looked at Ben. "I didn't hear anything when I died, just past and old memories." Ben nodded and hummed as his fingers started to relax from where they had held the fire poker in a death grip, as proven by his white knuckles and red palm. 

Ben coughed, "Eddie, what did you get Richie for his seventeenth birthday?"

Eddie had answered immediately because he didn't need a second to remember because he _knew _this easily. "I gave him an old penny on a golden chain, it was the first thing that he had given me when we met." Eddie smiled fondly as he remembered the hours of work he had put into that gift, hours of secrets he had told just to keep it a secret. He never knew that Richie hadn't taken it off, he doesn't know that Richie is still wearing it now. "I also gave him a collar because he was so out of control and annoying that he needed one."

Ben's kind eyes had filled with hope and acceptance as he stared at Eddie and Stanley as if they couldn't be real and as if they could disappear right now in front of him."It's really you?" He asked as he got up, dropping the fire poker on the floor and rushing to his friends as he enveloped them into a group hug, letting the tears fall as he felt their arms give off warmth that he had so desperately needed.

The door had opened and neither of them noticed and they certainly hadn't noticed the woman with hair of winter fire standing there with bags in her hands and an unspoken gasp caught in her throat.


	8. Beverly Marsh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beverly comes back home and panics, getting the wrong idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got tired near the end so it might not be good, it takes hours to rewrite this final draft so yay

Beverly Marsh was a woman of pain, she had to listen to every creek and every whisper. She expected every hit and every filthy and disgusting touch, she stayed silent when she cried, as to not disturb the monster lurking, listening for an excuse to touch and abuse. She had to learn and adapt, she learned to expect every little thing that had happened in her life, excluding one major childhood experience that brought a new wave of trauma with it. 

She stood there in the open doorway for a reason she knew too little, she didn't expect to see and witness this. For Ben Hanscom, her dear friend and boyfriend and Richie Tozier, her friend who had gone through so much were near the couch huddled in a group hug with what appeared to be Eddie Kasprak and Stanley Uris. Only, she knew that that had to b the Clown, the Clown deceived them and IT would kill them if Beverly didn't do it first and kill IT.

How did she know?

Easy, Stan and Eddie have been dead for over a week now.

She swallowed to avoid having a coughing fit and alerting the danger that was on the couch where she had cried and screamed and laughed and crept towards an abandoned fire poker that was laying upon the wooden carpeted floor. She grabbed it and brandished it as she crept towards the figures near the couch, she would do anything to save her family and she would prove it time and time again. Beverly cleared her throat as her grip upon the cold fire poker tightened when the group ug broke apart as she gained the attention of two dead members, a broken member, and a member who she was dating.

They all broke away, splitting in half. Ben had taken Stan behind him, mirroring what he had with Richie while he planned to use the advantage that Beverly was fond of him to avoid the possibility that Stan might bleed out again. Eddie had taken Richie's wrist and led him behind him before Richie protested and took a step further to protect the hypochondriac. Eddie had stepped forward again before they just stood there together as they stared at Beverly Marsh, a dear friend and cause of terror.

"Get out of my house and away from them before you bleed out, Clown." She uttered and both demanded to the figures she thought was the Clown, but was really her dead friends, Eddie Kasprak and Stanley Uris. Her grip tightened as Ben stepped closer, putting his hands on both of her cheeks and blocking her view of the other people in the house.

"Bev, sweetie, please let us all explain," Ben whispered out to her as she wanted to drop the poker, touch him, and protect him. She couldn't. The danger was only feet away from her, and Ben was trying to distract her from it. "Please."

"Ben," She whispered back, both with fondness and fear in her both as she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Richie and Eddie standing at _her_ with fear and holding each other close. "Get away from them, it's not them, they are dead, that is the Clown. Please, honey."

"It's really them, Bev, I promise. You can keep the fire poker, but please sit down and let them all explain. Please." It wasn't his words that had convinced her to lower the fire poker, instead, it was the emotion that had seeped through them, and the emotion that she could see in his eyes, the eyes that were practically begging her. 

Beverly looked at Richie, Richie who was holding Eddie's hand, he nodded and let out a breath of relief when she lowered the fire poker as Ben led her to a chair that was facing the couch, the couch that Richie, Eddie, and Stan sat on due to Ben forcing them with his eyes as he stood besides Beverly. Just in case she doesn't believe them and decides to get rid of the problem herself.

_"Why do both of them have a thing for fire pokers?"_

Beverly sat on the chair as she looked ahead, she looked broken, like she might break if they changed into the Clown. But she was strong, even if they were the Clown, she would overcome it. Because that's what she did, she overcame and destroyed life's challenges.

"So, Bev, it's hard to explain why we're here when one of the reasons is to gather everyone to _get_ the information on why. But if we were to put it simply, we woke up in the clubhouse with our causes od deaths turned to scars. Before he died, Eddie had heard a voice that he didn't recognize but that's it." Stan had done his best to explain their situation again under the stress and confusion that had permanently become part of his life. One part that he didn't miss about being a loser.

"What voice?" She blankly said as her mind absorbed the information and focused on the missing ingredient of their story and reencounter.

"Just something that said _'You're not supposed to die, not just yet. It wasn't in my laws.' _ It just doesn't make sense."

"Eddie? Is that _really_ you?" She sounded broken, like she would break further if he had grinned and his face and body turned to become the Clown. It hurt for everyone to hear, and Eddie only had the emotional strength to nod. Her eyes welled up with tears as he clearly looked at him, "What was the big thing that you told me in Derry? When we were younger, the thing that you _only_ told me."

Eddie smiled at her as confusion spilled and poured into th other's eyes, "I told you something that I have been struggling with for a very long time, who I was." It was an oversimplification of what it really was, what he wanted to say to prove it was him, but he wasn't ready yet.

"Eddie?" She asked once more as she cautiously walked over to him as she abandoned the fire poker where she previously sat. Eddie nodded and not a second after, she crashed into him, hugging him with all of her strength as he returned it full heartily. She sighed in his ear as she finally relaxed since the moment her boot touched the wooden floor of the house as she stepped inside of it. She whispered one more thing into Eddie's ear before she broke the hug, something that had hi wanting to glare at her and flip her off before his attention was elsewhere.

"I do hope I don't have to listen to you pine after him anymore, I do hope you finally go after him."

She went to Stan next, collapsing in his arms as the grief and relief set her free with the words she had whispered but everyone heard, unlike with Eddie. "I'm sorry I never told you that you would die before you even went to Derry, I'm sorry I saw you die and never told you."

"It's okay. I saw myself die the same night you did, you didn't have to tell me, I already knew." 

"Wait, what did you see in the Deadlights, Richie?" Eddie asked as he sat down next to Richie, who was the only one sitting and not standing.

Flashes of the visions flashed violently in his mind as he hugged himself and tried to forget it. "I'd rather not say, Eddie."

"Right, so where to next?" Eddie asked as he attempted so desperately to change the conversation for Richie's sake. "Who are we driving to, now?"

"We are not driving to somebody else tonight, you wretched demon!" Stan exclaimed as he looked at Eddie who was innocently looking at the car from the window. "I haven't slept since I was dead."

"Coward. I haven't slept for two weeks once, and besides, we haven't slept for a day at most." Eddie countered back as he dropped his head on Richie's shoulders, staring tiredly up at Stan.

"Go to the first floor, there are only two guest bedrooms and they are the last ones to the right. Just claim one and sleep." Ben offered as he and Beverly rose uo and walked to the staircase, yawning and waving goodbye.

"Who are we haunting tomorrow? Because it's really only Mike or Bill." Eddie asked.

"Bill. Definitely Bill. He dragged us to the sewers. he deserves to be haunted by you two demons." Richie said as he and Eddie walked up to the first floor to claim one of the rooms, leaving Stan glaring at them as he followed.


End file.
